With the April 2011 deadline nearing for implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the Institute of chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is set to host a national seminar on the new legislations in taxation and corporate accounting at Ahmedabad with a view to impart knowledge to its members.

The seminar is aimed at bringing awareness among the chartered accountants (CAs) and the members of the industry with respect to the legislations like Direct Tax Code (DTC), Goods and Service Tax (GST) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). "The challenge for the CA fraternity is enormous considering the roll out of new legislations in near future. From April, 2012 onwards, the industry will have an entirely new platform of accounting as well as taxation methods. The changed accounting platform will bring with it many complexities also," said Niren Negi, chairman, Ahmedabad branch of Western India Regional Council (WIRC) of ICAI.

The Direct Tax Committee and the Committee for Members in Industry of the ICAI will jointly hold a two-day national seminar here during 4th and 5th December, 2010 under the theme 'New Horizons, New Challenges, New Opportunities'.

Commenting on the preparedness of the Chartered Accountants for the new legislations, Dhinal Shah, a CA and council member informed that the CAs were gearing up for the new legislations and the awareness programs like such would help them clear their doubts about nitty-gritty of the changed accounting and taxation regime. "The adaptability (of the CAs) for the new legislation is not an issue at present.

This would require a change in mind set of the accountants from a traditional, historical cost-based accounting to a fair value business accounting," Shah said, adding that the industry in Gujarat is also gearing up for a smooth switch over to the new accounting system.

However, the IFRS will be rolled out in a phased manner with only those companies, which have an annual turnover of Rs 1000 crore or more falling under the purview of IFRS in the first phase.